The way the state funds the arts has shifted in recent years as arts groups that used to bring their dreams to a cultural agency for possible small-dollar funding now bring their pleas directly to their local lawmaker for big-dollar funding.

The trend accelerated in the late 1990s after Morgantown-based West Virginia Public Theater got $100,000 from the Legislature. The then-new Morgantown group was following the lead of Beckley-based Theater West Virginia, which had been getting legislative funding for years and by then was getting $300,000.

West Virginia Public Theater has since bumped up to $200,000 and Theater West Virginia to $400,000, amounts that dwarf what is available through the competitive grants process that the state's Commission on the Arts runs.

Other groups have taken notice that it pays to ask their local lawmaker. The Charleston-based Appalachian Children's Chorus and Shepherdstown-based Contemporary American Theater Festival now get $100,000 directly from lawmakers.

So does the Huntington Symphony, which, measured by the number of dollars spent and concerts given, is a small player beside the older and busier Wheeling Symphony and West Virginia Symphony.

It used to be the case that an arts group that got money directly from the Legislature couldn't apply for competitive grants.

That barrier came down a few years back. The Wheeling Symphony and West Virginia Symphony dine at both troughs, getting $100,000 directly from the state, and another $60,000 to $66,000 in general operating support from the Commission on the Arts.

The other so-called majors - Oglebay Institute, the Clay Center and Huntington Museum of Art - receive only that $60,000 to $66,000 that majors get every year from the Commission.

Midsize arts groups also qualify for general operating support through the Commission on the Arts: Carnegie Hall, $41,500; Parkersburg Art Center, $27,000; and Charleston Ballet, $23,545. Museum in the Community, formerly a midsize arts group and now virtually inactive, received nothing, though the Legislature continues to give it $45,000 to pay interest on its mortgage.

"These grants enable us to bring arts experiences to people around the state," said Jeff Pierson, director of arts at the Division of Culture and History. "The people who work in these organizations do the hard work. The Commission on the Arts has the distinct privilege of helping to fund them."

State funding for the competitive grants program rises from $810,000 to $1 million in the fiscal year starting July 1.

Culture and History spends nearly $3 million on the arts in grants, training and other services, Pierson said.

Money direct from the Legislature is in addition to that. Carnegie Hall also gets $70,000 in Fairs and Festival money. The Heritage Farm Museum and Village near Huntington gets $50,000. Greenbrier Valley Theater gets $50,000, which jumps to $150,000 in the new fiscal year starting July 1.

To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249.

Commission on the Arts grants:

Hampshire County Arts Council: $4,375, community concert series

Grant County Arts Council: $1,325, three concerts

ArtsBridge Inc.: $60,000, general operating support for Parkersburg-based group working on both sides of Ohio River; ArtsBridge receives grants from two states to support individuals and arts groups in both states.

West Virginia Division of Culture and History: $32,224, fully funds the cash awards for the West Virginia Juried Exhibition

Charleston Stage Company: $8,274, summer arts camp for children

West Virginia Professional Dance Company, Beckley: $6,750, apprenticeship enables dancer with touring dance group to study with renowned New York dancer

Beckley Area Foundation: $4,000, West Virginia Symphony Labor Day pops concert

Mid-Ohio Valley Symphony Society, Parkersburg: $12,000, West Virginia Symphony's Parkersburg concerts

Wheeling Symphony: $59,850, general operating support

Charleston Ballet: $23,545, general operating support

Davis & Elkins College: $3,250, West Virginia Symphony touring concert

African American Heritage Family Tree Museum, Ansted: $1,715, summer arts camp that divides time between Ansted and West Virginia University

Trillium Collective Ltd.: $11,121, Greenbrier County dance troupe gives class, performance

Carnegie Hall Inc.: $41,500, general operating support

WVU-Parkersburg: $4,125, two concerts

Huntington Museum of Art: $66,500, general operating support

Shepherd University: $2,150, performance by Philadelphia dance company

Goose Route Arts Collaborative, Shepherdstown: $4,605, dance group puts on dance festival

Shepherdstown Music and Dance: $5,040, concert series

West Virginia Arts Presenters Inc.: $62,292, support for group that re-grants to other arts groups; organization block-books, getting favorable rates on performers who make multiples stops in West Virginia

Greenbrier Valley Theatre: $11,596, educational concerts by Barbara Nissman for children

Apollo Civic Theatre, Martinsburg: $2,660, series of play performances

Morgan Arts Council: $20,437, summer concert series and visual art exhibits; council also re-grants to local performing and visual artists in and around Berkeley Springs

Kanawha Valley Friends of Old-Time Music and Dance: $6,950, concert series

Allied Artists of West Virginia, $1,645: juried art exhibit

City of Bridgeport, $3,000: jazz concert

Tug Valley Arts Council: $9,766, three concerts in Williamson

Randolph County Community Arts: $22,852, two concert series, one of them for children

Clarksburg-Harrison County Cultural Foundation: $1,450, re-granting pays for dance and choral scholarships for young people

Oglebay Institute, Wheeling: $65,000, general operating support

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra: $66,500, general operating support

Fairmont Chamber Music Society: $2,650, jazz and classical concerts

West Virginia International Film Festival, Charleston: $9,000, film festivals

ArtsLink Inc., New Martinsville: $12,181, re-grant to artists and arts groups, Wetzel and Tyler counties

Augusta Heritage Center, Elkins: $20,724, summer artisan workshop programs and concerts

Highland Arts Unlimited, Keyser: $10,900, concert series

Arts and Humanities Alliance of Jefferson County: $3,750, arts workshop for teachers

River City Youth Ballet Ensemble, Charleston: $1,750, workshop with visiting dancer; performances

Weirton Area Civic Foundation: $4,000, free concert by Wheeling Symphony

Parkersburg Art Center: $27,700, general operating support

Arts Monongahela Inc.: $23,500, re-grant to Morgantown-area arts groups

Community Concert Organization, Bluefield: $4,191, concert series

Pocahontas County Opera House Foundation: $12,750, performance series in Marlinton

Fairmont State University: $7,500, West Virginia Symphony concert

Clay Center for Arts and Sciences: $66,500, general operating support

West Virginia Youth Symphony, Charleston: $3,590, instructional workshops

East End Family Resource Center, Charleston: $4,500, music mentoring program for children

Mid-Ohio Valley Symphony Society, Parkersburg: $11,350, West Virginia Symphony young people's concerts

Ivy and Stone, Council for the Arts: $14,981, young people's concerts

Nicholas County schools: $2,550, young people's concerts

Mason County schools: $2,100, young people's concerts

Marion County schools: $2,900, young people's concerts

Charleston Stage Company: $3,362, apprentice program for high school students to learn theater skills

Wyoming County Board of Education: $5,500, short-term residency of West Virginia Professional Dance Company

Grant County Arts Council: $1,250, young people's concerts

Greenbrier County schools: $5,708, young people's concerts

Jackson County schools: $4,050, young people's concerts

Randolph County schools: $9,800, art classes for children

Putnam County schools: $6,000, summer arts camp

Professional development grants for artists to attend workshops or buy materials: Drew Tanner, $2,187; Laura Moul, $1,378; Dana Aldis, $641; Lori Ann Flood, $1,013; Linda Carol Carpenter, $1,613; Gary Smith, $2,406; Trillium Collective Ltd., $703; Cynthia Eileen Camlin, $2,487; James Wells, $1,673; Marietta Lyall, $2,008; Stefani Andrews, $2,479; Betty Rivard, $2,125; Fred M. Powers, $1,042; Allegheny Echoes Inc., $5,000; Peter Massing, $2,472; Jeff Fetty, $1,353; Augusta Heritage Center, $5,000; Tanya Rakhmanina, $2,105; Sheila Brannan, $2,500; Keith Lahti, $2,500; Jessica Viers, $2,500; Mountain Made Foundation, $5,000.

Challenge America grants using mostly federal money:

Apollo Civic Theatre: $3,375, summer youth theater workshop

Huntington Museum of Art: $15,000, outreach education for young people

Charleston Stage Company: $7,538, theater internship for high school students

Morgan Arts Council: $30,102, arts incubator project at Ice House, Berkeley Springs

Mount View High School: $11,200, summer theater project

Randolph County Community Arts: $7,762: workshops for children

Actors Guild of Parkersburg: $4,800, theater project for young people

Greenbrier Valley Theatre: $15,000, theater project for young people

The way the state funds the arts has shifted in recent years as arts groups that used to bring their dreams to a cultural agency for possible small-dollar funding now bring their pleas directly to their local lawmaker for big-dollar funding.

The trend accelerated in the late 1990s after Morgantown-based West Virginia Public Theater got $100,000 from the Legislature. The then-new Morgantown group was following the lead of Beckley-based Theater West Virginia, which had been getting legislative funding for years and by then was getting $300,000.

West Virginia Public Theater has since bumped up to $200,000 and Theater West Virginia to $400,000, amounts that dwarf what is available through the competitive grants process that the state's Commission on the Arts runs.

Other groups have taken notice that it pays to ask their local lawmaker. The Charleston-based Appalachian Children's Chorus and Shepherdstown-based Contemporary American Theater Festival now get $100,000 directly from lawmakers.

So does the Huntington Symphony, which, measured by the number of dollars spent and concerts given, is a small player beside the older and busier Wheeling Symphony and West Virginia Symphony.

It used to be the case that an arts group that got money directly from the Legislature couldn't apply for competitive grants.

That barrier came down a few years back. The Wheeling Symphony and West Virginia Symphony dine at both troughs, getting $100,000 directly from the state, and another $60,000 to $66,000 in general operating support from the Commission on the Arts.

The other so-called majors - Oglebay Institute, the Clay Center and Huntington Museum of Art - receive only that $60,000 to $66,000 that majors get every year from the Commission.

Midsize arts groups also qualify for general operating support through the Commission on the Arts: Carnegie Hall, $41,500; Parkersburg Art Center, $27,000; and Charleston Ballet, $23,545. Museum in the Community, formerly a midsize arts group and now virtually inactive, received nothing, though the Legislature continues to give it $45,000 to pay interest on its mortgage.

"These grants enable us to bring arts experiences to people around the state," said Jeff Pierson, director of arts at the Division of Culture and History. "The people who work in these organizations do the hard work. The Commission on the Arts has the distinct privilege of helping to fund them."

State funding for the competitive grants program rises from $810,000 to $1 million in the fiscal year starting July 1.

Culture and History spends nearly $3 million on the arts in grants, training and other services, Pierson said.

Money direct from the Legislature is in addition to that. Carnegie Hall also gets $70,000 in Fairs and Festival money. The Heritage Farm Museum and Village near Huntington gets $50,000. Greenbrier Valley Theater gets $50,000, which jumps to $150,000 in the new fiscal year starting July 1.

To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249.

Commission on the Arts grants:

Hampshire County Arts Council: $4,375, community concert series

Grant County Arts Council: $1,325, three concerts

ArtsBridge Inc.: $60,000, general operating support for Parkersburg-based group working on both sides of Ohio River; ArtsBridge receives grants from two states to support individuals and arts groups in both states.

West Virginia Division of Culture and History: $32,224, fully funds the cash awards for the West Virginia Juried Exhibition

Charleston Stage Company: $8,274, summer arts camp for children

West Virginia Professional Dance Company, Beckley: $6,750, apprenticeship enables dancer with touring dance group to study with renowned New York dancer

Beckley Area Foundation: $4,000, West Virginia Symphony Labor Day pops concert

Mid-Ohio Valley Symphony Society, Parkersburg: $12,000, West Virginia Symphony's Parkersburg concerts

Wheeling Symphony: $59,850, general operating support

Charleston Ballet: $23,545, general operating support

Davis & Elkins College: $3,250, West Virginia Symphony touring concert

African American Heritage Family Tree Museum, Ansted: $1,715, summer arts camp that divides time between Ansted and West Virginia University

Trillium Collective Ltd.: $11,121, Greenbrier County dance troupe gives class, performance

Carnegie Hall Inc.: $41,500, general operating support

WVU-Parkersburg: $4,125, two concerts

Huntington Museum of Art: $66,500, general operating support

Shepherd University: $2,150, performance by Philadelphia dance company

Goose Route Arts Collaborative, Shepherdstown: $4,605, dance group puts on dance festival

Shepherdstown Music and Dance: $5,040, concert series

West Virginia Arts Presenters Inc.: $62,292, support for group that re-grants to other arts groups; organization block-books, getting favorable rates on performers who make multiples stops in West Virginia

Greenbrier Valley Theatre: $11,596, educational concerts by Barbara Nissman for children

Apollo Civic Theatre, Martinsburg: $2,660, series of play performances

Morgan Arts Council: $20,437, summer concert series and visual art exhibits; council also re-grants to local performing and visual artists in and around Berkeley Springs

Kanawha Valley Friends of Old-Time Music and Dance: $6,950, concert series

Allied Artists of West Virginia, $1,645: juried art exhibit

City of Bridgeport, $3,000: jazz concert

Tug Valley Arts Council: $9,766, three concerts in Williamson

Randolph County Community Arts: $22,852, two concert series, one of them for children

Clarksburg-Harrison County Cultural Foundation: $1,450, re-granting pays for dance and choral scholarships for young people

Oglebay Institute, Wheeling: $65,000, general operating support

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra: $66,500, general operating support

Fairmont Chamber Music Society: $2,650, jazz and classical concerts

West Virginia International Film Festival, Charleston: $9,000, film festivals

ArtsLink Inc., New Martinsville: $12,181, re-grant to artists and arts groups, Wetzel and Tyler counties

Augusta Heritage Center, Elkins: $20,724, summer artisan workshop programs and concerts

Highland Arts Unlimited, Keyser: $10,900, concert series

Arts and Humanities Alliance of Jefferson County: $3,750, arts workshop for teachers

River City Youth Ballet Ensemble, Charleston: $1,750, workshop with visiting dancer; performances

Weirton Area Civic Foundation: $4,000, free concert by Wheeling Symphony

Parkersburg Art Center: $27,700, general operating support

Arts Monongahela Inc.: $23,500, re-grant to Morgantown-area arts groups

Community Concert Organization, Bluefield: $4,191, concert series

Pocahontas County Opera House Foundation: $12,750, performance series in Marlinton

Fairmont State University: $7,500, West Virginia Symphony concert

Clay Center for Arts and Sciences: $66,500, general operating support

West Virginia Youth Symphony, Charleston: $3,590, instructional workshops

East End Family Resource Center, Charleston: $4,500, music mentoring program for children

Mid-Ohio Valley Symphony Society, Parkersburg: $11,350, West Virginia Symphony young people's concerts

Ivy and Stone, Council for the Arts: $14,981, young people's concerts

Nicholas County schools: $2,550, young people's concerts

Mason County schools: $2,100, young people's concerts

Marion County schools: $2,900, young people's concerts

Charleston Stage Company: $3,362, apprentice program for high school students to learn theater skills

Wyoming County Board of Education: $5,500, short-term residency of West Virginia Professional Dance Company

Grant County Arts Council: $1,250, young people's concerts

Greenbrier County schools: $5,708, young people's concerts

Jackson County schools: $4,050, young people's concerts

Randolph County schools: $9,800, art classes for children

Putnam County schools: $6,000, summer arts camp

Professional development grants for artists to attend workshops or buy materials: Drew Tanner, $2,187; Laura Moul, $1,378; Dana Aldis, $641; Lori Ann Flood, $1,013; Linda Carol Carpenter, $1,613; Gary Smith, $2,406; Trillium Collective Ltd., $703; Cynthia Eileen Camlin, $2,487; James Wells, $1,673; Marietta Lyall, $2,008; Stefani Andrews, $2,479; Betty Rivard, $2,125; Fred M. Powers, $1,042; Allegheny Echoes Inc., $5,000; Peter Massing, $2,472; Jeff Fetty, $1,353; Augusta Heritage Center, $5,000; Tanya Rakhmanina, $2,105; Sheila Brannan, $2,500; Keith Lahti, $2,500; Jessica Viers, $2,500; Mountain Made Foundation, $5,000.

Challenge America grants using mostly federal money:

Apollo Civic Theatre: $3,375, summer youth theater workshop

Huntington Museum of Art: $15,000, outreach education for young people

Charleston Stage Company: $7,538, theater internship for high school students

Morgan Arts Council: $30,102, arts incubator project at Ice House, Berkeley Springs

Mount View High School: $11,200, summer theater project

Randolph County Community Arts: $7,762: workshops for children

Actors Guild of Parkersburg: $4,800, theater project for young people

Greenbrier Valley Theatre: $15,000, theater project for young people

American Masterpieces-West Virginia grants to preserve and present American master artists:

Huntington Museum of Art, $10,000: exhibit of American icons ("American Spirit: The A.G. Edwards/Wachovia Securities Collection")

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, $8,375: production of "West Side Story"

WVU-Parkersburg: $2,500, choral festival

West Virginia Professional Dance Company: $4,965, performance with guest artist

Greenbrier Valley Theatre: $10,000, performance with guest artist Barbara Nissman

These are arts grants direct from the Legislature for the current fiscal year ending June 30. The list of arts grants under Fairs and Festivals is partial, reflecting those grants that are most obviously cultural. To see the complete list, visit www.wvarts.org/pages/pdfs/lineitemfunding2008.pdf.

Legislative funding for the arts, line items:

Huntington Symphony: $100,000

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration: $10,800

West Virginia Public Theater: $200,000

Theater Arts of West Virginia: $400,000

Marshall Artists Series: $60,000

West Virginia State Fair: $50,000

Contemporary American Theater Festival: $100,000

Independence Hall: $50,000

West Virginia Symphony: $100,000

Wheeling Symphony: $100,000

Appalachian Children's Chorus: $100,000

Total: $1,270,800

Legislative funding for the Arts, Fairs and Festivals:

African-American Cultural Heritage Festival: $5,000

African-American Heritage Family Tree Museum: $4,500

Apollo Theater-Summer Program, Martinsburg: $2,000

Aracoma Story, Logan: $50,000

Arts Monongahela: $20,000

Barbour County Arts & Humanities Council: $1,500

Black Heritage Festival, Harrison County: $6,000

Carnegie Hall Inc., Lewisburg, $70,000

Ceredo-Kenova Railroad Museum, Wayne County: $2,000

Charleston Sternwheel Regatta: $20,000

CoalField Jamboree (Logan County): $35,000

Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society, Huntington: $10,000

FestivALL Charleston: $20,000

First Stage Children's Theater Company, Cabell County: $2,000

Flanagan Murrell House, Summers County: $10,000

Fort New Salem, Harrison: $3,700

Fort Randolph, Mason County: $5,000

Fund for the Arts Wine & All that Jazz Festival, Charleston: $2,500

General Adam Stephen Memorial Foundation, General Adam Stephen House, Martinsburg: $18,525

Greenbrier Valley Theater: $50,000

Hardy County Tour and Crafts Association: $20,000

Heritage Craft Center of the Eastern Panhandle: $7,000

Heritage Farm Museum & Village, Cabell County: $50,000

Hilltop Festival, Huntington Museum of Art: $1,000

Historic Fayette Theater, Fayette County: $5,500

Hundred American Legion Earl Kiger Post Bluegrass Festival, Wetzel County: $2,000

Huntington Outdoor Theater: $2,000

Huntington Youth and Music Project: $5,000

Italian Heritage Festival, Clarksburg: $25,000

Jefferson County African American Heritage Festival: $5,000

Johnnie Johnson Blues and Jazz Festival, Marion County: $5,000

Maddie Carroll House, Cabell County: $7,500

McARTS, McDowell County: $20,000

McCoy Theater, Hardy County: $20,000

Morgantown Theater Company: $20,000

Mountain Fest: $20,000

Mountain Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival, Jefferson County: $5,000

Mountain Music Festival: $2,500

Mountain State Arts Crafts Fair, Cedar Lakes, Jackson County: $5,000

Multi-Cultural Festival of West Virginia, Charleston: $20,000

Museum in the Community, Putnam County: $45,000

Music Hall of Fame, Marion County: $5,000

Old Opera House Theater Company, Jefferson County: $15,000

Parkersburg Arts Center: $20,000

Pendleton County Committee for Arts: $15,000

Pocahontas Historic Opera House: $6,000

Point Pleasant Artist Series: $5,000

Raleigh County All Wars Museum: $10,000

Randolph County Community Arts Council: $3,000

Soldiers' Memorial Theater, Beckley: $10,000

Southern West Virginia Veterans' Museum, Summers County: $4,500

Stonewall Jackson Heritage Arts and Crafts: $11,000

Those Who Served War Museum, Mercer County: $4,000

Tug Valley Arts Council, Mingo County: $5,000

West Virginia Museum of Glass, Lewis County: $5,000

West Virginia Roundhouse Rail Days, Berkeley County: $25,000

West Virginia State Folk Festival: $4,500

West Virginia Wine & Jazz Festival, Monongalia County: $9,000

West Virginia Wine and Arts Festival, Berkeley County: $5,000

Wine Festival and Mountain Music Event, Harrison County: $5,000

West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, Charleston: $3,000

Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia, Beckley: $12,000

Z.D. Ramsdell House, Wayne County: $4,500